Businesses and start-ups with ideas for apps, games, social media campaigns or online videos, and that don’t have the necessary internal resources, can now apply to develop their ideas for free via the WebElevate programme at the Digital Skills Academy.

WebElevate is an honours degree programme that is offered by Dublin’s Digital Skills Academy and certified by Dublin Institute of Technology.

At the moment 200 students are engaged in the course that re-skills graduate job seekers with digital technology skills. A digital game development element has also been added to the course.

Students get training in mobile app development, online and mobile game development, web commerce, digital marketing, web video production and online publishing.

To date, more than 40 companies such as Gill & Macmillan and Pigsback.com have engaged with WebElevate to develop new digital products.

Companies with ideas get access to a dedicated student team, which will work on their digital product. According to the Digital Skills Academy, student teams will be able to work on up to 30 ideas.

"Whether companies need support on the R&D of a new digital product, the development of a prototype, or a fully delivered mobile application or online and mobile game, the WebElevate programme provides them with a great opportunity to tap into our resources and talent pool," said Paul Dunne, CEO of Digital Skills Academy.

He said the multi-disciplinary teams will be able to devote up to 2,000 hours to work on the digital innovations while being guided by industry experts.

For companies that are interested in partnering with the programme, the Digital Skills Academy will be holding an information event at 8am on 21 November at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin 8.